-Caveat Lector- AIR VICE-MARSHAL DAVID DICK Air Vice Marshal David Dick, CB, CBE, AFC, Commandant of the Aeroplane and Armaments Experimental Establishments Boscombe Down, 1974-75, died on August 3 aged 75. He was born on January 7, 1924. AS A test pilot at the RAF's famous test flying establishment at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire in the 1950s, David Dick narrowly escaped with his life while test-flying a Gloster Javelin high above the South coast. Britain's first operational delta-winged jet aircraft and the first twin engined Delta aircraft in the world, the Javelin had been hailed as "the Flying Dart" when it made its first flight, late in 1951. It was also the RAF's first specifically designated "all-weather" jet fighter and its success was regarded as vital in giving the country safety against enemy intruders by day and night. But, like many of the aircraft which were built as fighter designs for the RAF in the transonic period of the early 1950s, (the Supermarine Swift for example was a complete failure) the Javelin continued to confront its pilots with fiendish problems even after it had entered squadron service. The delta wing itself posed many aerodynamic conundrums. Early flights suffered from control surface vibrations and violent buffeting. The pilot of the prototype, Squadron Leader Waterton, had lost both elevators owing to violent flutter in 1952. but had managed to land the aircraft. His deputy at Glosters was not so lucky and had been killed when the third prototype crashed to earth in what was supposed to be a "stabilised stall". Several other Javelins were lost after that, with their pilots ejecting to safety. By the time, therefore, that David Dick took up a production Javelin from Boscombe Down on a day in 1957, pilots had come to regard the air craft as a somewhat unpredictable beast. At 40,000ft over the English Channel, his Javelin went into a flat spin, and thereafter defied all his at tempts to bring it under control. In spite of deploying all his proven flying skills as a crack test pilot of Boscombe Down's A Squadron, Dick was simply unable to stabilise the aircraft or prevent the "angels" unwinding alarmingly on his altimeter. Eventually, he was forced to eject from the aircraft at 8,000ft, parachuted down to the water and was picked up from the Solent by, helicopter. Meanwhile, the Javelin crashed spectacularly on the Isle of Wight - a telegraph pole piercing its fuselage and providing a remarkable photograph for the press. Far from any blame being attached to Dick, the incident enhanced his reputation as a test pilot. His cool handling of the situation, during which he calmly reported every step on the flight recorder as his aircraft fell through thousands of feet, won him his Air Force Cross. The data he was able to provide enabled some further modifications to be made to the already much-modified Javelin airframe, while the tape of his comments was preserved, to form part of a lecture on test flying to the Royal Aeronautical Society. Dick's tour of duty in A Squadron (later renamed the Fast Jet Test Squadron) was the first of three postings to RAF Boscombe Down, reflecting his reputation not only as a pilot but as a specialist on aircraft development. Alan David Dick was born in British India, where his father was both Principal and Professor of Ophthalmology at the Medical School of the Punjab in Lahore. At the age of three, Dick was sent back to Britain and eventually to school at Fettes. But when the Second World War broke out his parents brought him back to school in Lahore. An accomplished skier and golfer, he also learnt to fly and on reaching the age of 18 he volunteered for the RAF and subsequently served in South East Asia Command, flying first Hurricanes then American-built Thunderbolt fighter-bombers on missions over the Burmese jungle in support of Slim's 14th Army. On being demobilised he attended a "crammer" in England to win himself a place at King's College, Cambridge, to read mechanical engineering. He also flew with the University Air Squadron and in 1950, deciding against a civilian career, rejoined the RAF. After three years as an instructor at the Central Flying School and a course at the Empire Test Pilots School, Farnborough, he went to Boscombe Down for the first of his three tours there, as a test pilot, from 1954 to 1957. He spent the next three years in the new Bloodhound missile base at North Coates, Lincolnshire, and then commanded 207 Squadron, flying Valiant bombers as part of Britain's nuclear strike force, at Marham, Norfolk, from 1961 to 1964. He returned to Boscombe Down as Superintendent of Flying,.1964-68. In 1974 he was back there as commandant. He retired in 1978 as deputy controller of aircraft in the Ministry of Defence's Procurement Executive. In retirement Dick worked for five difficult years as secretary of the British Association of Occupational Therapists. There, one of his tougher decisions was to close down its Scottish office as part of a programme to save costs. He retired for the second time in 1984. Lean and wiry in build, David Dick was a modest, retiring man, quite unlike the popular image of a test pilot. He is survived by his wife Ann and by two sons and two daughters. ==================================================================== THE TIMES - Obituaries Wed, Sept 15 '99 DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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